Week 7: How To Shoe
Emily H -
Welcome back to my blog! This week I shadowed Melinda on Tuesday and Wednesday again!
On Tuesday I had the opportunity of meeting Melinda’s ferrier, Holly. A farrier specializes in the care and maintenance of horse hooves, including trimming, shoeing, and identifying and treating hoof-related issues. This was a great opportunity for me as I was able to watch Holly work on Melinda’s horses and have her explain to me what she was doing. I watched Holly shoe all of the horses while also watching Melinda work on Anna. Anna is Melinda’s competition barrel racer. So while Anna received standard treatment from Melinda, I discussed hoofs with Holly. The most interesting horse to watch Holly work on was Deuce. He is Melinda’s oldest horse, who is essentially retired. He has a collapsed joint in his right front hoof. So to help him stay comfortable and healthy he gets special shoes. These shoes help with blood stimulation and frog support. The frog is a V-shaped structure that extends forward across about two-thirds of the sole of the hoof. Through trial and error, Holly has found this to be the best treatment for Deuce’s collapsed joint. Since I got to speak in detail with a farrier, I decided to focus my studies on hoofs this week! To learn more about the anatomy of the hoof I used “Horse Anatomy” by Robert A. Kainer and Thomas O. McCracken!
On Wednesday, I got to see Drifter and Burnell! I’m happy to report that they are both doing well! Like last week, I red lighted Drifter’s entire body primarily focusing the most time on his hind and neck. Red light therapy can accelerate muscle recovery by reducing inflammation and promoting cellular energy production, help relieve pain, and improve circulation, which can help reduce pain and inflammation.
Thank you for joining me this week! Next week we will hopefully meet new horses!